A day here at home - pictorial version

Hanno bought me an early birthday present - a new camera. :- ) I spent some time yesterday wandering around taking photos and seeing what this new contraption can and can't do. I'm no photographer and I don't like staged photos so I'm sure sometimes some of you must think: Good grief. What on earth is she doing now! This camera is not a point and click, which my last camera was, this camera requires thinking, reading of the manual and a bit of practise. Hopefully it will improve my photos. 

So today I thought I'd show you a glimpse of what happened here yesterday. It nothing exciting, just Hanno, me, the chooks and the cat in a few scenes from our home. I hope you enjoy them.

Above, drying on the back of a chair, is a little crocheted pad I use for my tea pot. I can't remember now who gave it to me, it was a gift from one of the ladies, but it's one of the most useful things in my kitchen. And it's just so pretty! I use it under my metal tea pot and it keeps the bottom warm and sometimes I use it under hot saucepans, so they don't mark the benchtop.

A distinctive Barnevelder egg - dark brown with speckles.

Hello Bluebell!

It looks like Martha is dancing here.

 Kathleen with Tricia, who is too busy to look at the camera.

You can see where I clipped Miss Tammy's wing. 

Fiona and Annie gossiping at the water cooler.

This is pear vinegar made a few weeks ago.

The view when I walk out of my work room towards the kitchen. The cupboard straight ahead is my stockpile cupboard.

Yesterday's lunch - homemade macaroni and cheese with cucumber salad. We have a tsunami of cucumbers in the backyard about to hit us. There will be lots of pickling going on soon.

A little bowl of beads and bits and pieces Tricia used when she was crocheting a jug cover.

And mid-afternoon, a couple of photos from Sunny of Jamie playing with his cousin.

I have been meaning to tell you about this app Sunny put me onto. It's a Korean message and phone program and it's free to download and free to use. It's like Skype for phones, although I think there is a computer version of it too. You can talk on the phone and message all day long if you want to and there are no charges. It's been really great to use while Sunny is in Korea. The English version of it is downloadable here: http://www.kakao.com/talk/en.

 Hanno planting a year's world of garlic yesterday morning.

Working on depth of field photos. :- )

The camera is a Canon EOS 1100D, an entry level digital SLR camera. I am used to working with SLR cameras because I used them when I worked for a living, but this is a different kettle of fish entirely. I like it though. It's another challenge to learn all about it and hopefully, it will improve the photos here. And don't worry, I won't start staging things, the photos will remain simple displays of our home life.  Does anyone else have a camera like this? What camera do you use?